Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 25: Army defended their Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) team championship title with a commanding performance, finishing with nine gold medals overall – eight of them in the Gulmarg leg – as competitions conclude today.
Himachal Pradesh secured the runners-up position after collecting four gold medals on the final day, while hosts J&K opened their gold account and ended 10th in the medal standings with one gold and one silver.
The closing ceremony of KIWG 2026, hosted by the J&K Sports Council and managed by the Sports Authority of India, will be held at the Golf Course in Gulmarg on Thursday.
The first leg of the Games was conducted in Ladakh from January 20 to 26.
On Day 3, Army and Himachal Pradesh won four gold medals each, while J&K and Karnataka claimed one apiece.
In ski mountaineering (men’s relay), Army struck gold through Tariq Hussain, Rajeshwar Singh, Rovin Singh and Santosh Moktan, clocking 12:51.05 seconds.
J&K (Waseem Akber Sheikh, Tanveer Ahmad Lone, Shahid Ahmad Chaghi, Tanveer Ahmad Dider) took silver in 15:57.03 seconds, while Ladakh secured bronze in 16:49.81 seconds.
Himachal Pradesh won the women’s relay gold in ski mountaineering, with Natasha Mahar, Sakshi Thakur, Saijal Thakur and Tamanna finishing in 22:03.00 seconds. CRPF claimed silver (25:46.04), and J&K 1 took bronze (28:23.99).
In the women’s sprint event, Sakshi Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) won gold in 4:42.37 seconds, followed by Natasha Mahar (4:48.03) and Stanzin Yangzom of Ladakh (5:11.58). Santosh Moktan of Army topped the men’s sprint in 2:45.83 seconds, ahead of Siddhartha Gadekar (Maharashtra) and Rovin Singh (Army).
Army’s Mayank Panwar won gold in the men’s alpine skiing giant slalom, clocking 44.810 seconds. Yogesh Kumar (Himachal Pradesh) took silver in 45.083 seconds and Jekmat Rafstan (Army) bronze in 45.305 seconds.
Hosts J&K celebrated their lone gold when Zubair Ahmad Lone won the men’s giant slalom snowboarding title in 1:17.424 seconds, narrowly beating Army’s Vivek Rana (1:17.451). Kulwinder Sharma (Army) secured bronze.
Himachal Pradesh’s Preeti Thakur dominated women’s snowboarding, winning gold in the giant slalom (1:40.306 seconds) and slalom (1:15.194 seconds). Prakriti Thakur (HP) secured silver in both events, while Urmila (Maharashtra) finished with bronze in each race.
Army asserted complete dominance in Nordic skiing. In the men’s 15 km race, Mohammad Ali won gold in 34:21.49 seconds, leading an Army clean sweep with Padma Namgail (34:36.74) taking silver and Sunny Singh (35:16.83) bronze.
In the women’s 1.5 km Nordic sprint, Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda of Karnataka claimed gold in 4:13.91 seconds. Renu Danu (CRPF) and Kusum Rana (ITBP) finished second and third respectively.
Three athletes finished KIWG 2026 with double gold medals – CRPF’s Kajal Kumari Rai, Army’s Mayank Panwar and Himachal Pradesh’s Preeti Thakur – underlining the high level of competition at this year’s edition.
With consistent podium finishes across alpine skiing, Nordic events, snowboarding and ski mountaineering, Army once again underlined their supremacy in winter sports, while Himachal Pradesh and J&K delivered strong performances to cap an action-packed Gulmarg leg of KIWG 2026.
The post Army retains KIWG crown; HP second, J&K finish 10th appeared first on Daily Excelsior.